Grant Gustin

**Thomas Grant Gustin** (*born January 14, 1990*) is an American actor whose rise from modest Virginia roots to international television fame illustrates a blend of rigorous musical‑theatre training and cinematic charisma. Born in **Norfolk, Virginia**, he is the son of pediatric nurse Tina Haney and college professor Thomas Gustin, and he honed his performance skills at the Governor’s School for the Arts before joining the local Hurrah Players Incorporated. After graduating from Granby High School in 2008, Gustin pursued a BFA in Musical Theatre at Elon University, though he left after two years to seize a professional opportunity on the national tour of *West Side Story* as Baby John, a role that cemented his stage credentials and led to his Broadway debut in *Water for Elephants* as Jacob Jankowski.

Gustin’s screen career launched with the student film *Rain* (2004) while he was still in high school, but his breakout television role arrived in 2011 when he was cast as the scheming warbler Sebastian Smythe on *Glee*, delivering a memorable duet of “Smooth Criminal” that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2013 he was tapped to portray Barry Allen in the Arrowverse, first appearing in *Arrow* before headlining *The Flash* (2014‑2023), a series that became a cultural touchstone with nine seasons and 184 episodes, and earned him a dedicated fanbase and multiple crossover appearances across *Supergirl*, *Legends of Tomorrow*, and the web series *Vixen*. Beyond superhero drama, Gustin has explored film projects such as *Krystal* (2017) and *Operation Blue Eyes* (2020). He married Andrea “LA” Thoma in December 2018, and the couple share two children, a daughter born in 2021 and a son born in 2024, balancing a thriving career with family life.